Slab Daddy mentioned on here that a lot of people fish minnows and do not post on here because we talk a lot about jig fishing. Minnows are the best bait in the world for catchingcrappie. Minnows make up the biggest part of the diet of crappie. I would love to hear anytips and tricks that people use to catch crappie on minnows. Myself i just can not seem to be able to catch fish on minnows. I stay hung up , have a hard time keeping the minnows alive.and do not like having to get up earlier to stop and buy them on the way to the lake.

when i first came to this site there were a lot of people asking how to work jigs to catch crappie . Also asking how to locate structure that held crappie . So i started writing all theinformation that i have learned over the years about how to find crappie and all the different ways to use a jig to catch crappie.

there are many other artificial lures that produce a lot of crappie that can be written aboutlike spoons. spoons have probably caught a lot more crappie than jigs . But the people thatuse them have not written about how to fish them properly.

I would love to have someone write on how they have done fishing minnows.

Since you asked. I love fishing minnows, particularly under a slip cork. I just love the way they bite, especially big ones.I have been fishing off my pier at night when I am there. Seems the bigger crappie start biting at 12-2 am.I have been getting about 10 good keepers for the last couple months, I think that when the water was real hot they would wait until it cooled off to start feeding. This last Saturday nite , I got 8 , with a couple being over a lb.Several 1-2 lb bass, and the usual catfish, with 1 breakoff on a good cat. I use a lite leader - 4lb-6lb test, so that if I cannotfree a hang up, I just break off the leader and retie. I also like tipping a jig with small minnows, but only when I fish straight down.I think Crappie will take minnows when they won't take jigs.

Here are some tips that I use to get crappie to bite when things are slow.

I have noticed that when a boat comes by and creates a wake that makes my cork bounce, I will frequently get a bite. Also, when things are slow, simply pop the corkor give it a short drag then let it rest. This drags the minnow up to a different depth and back down, you will usually get the strike on the fall of the minnow asthe cork settles. If I cast out far and then drag and drop back to me, I covera lot of area and usually pick up a bite somewhere in the area.

Also, If you hang up, bingo you have found a brush pile or stump. If you simplyshallow up the slip cork and put it back out where you hung up, you are at leaston structure and increasing your chance for a crappie bite.

Good stuff Ann.!I check the bite area on the minnow. If I have it hooked in the back and the bite mark was on the head, I change the hook area to the head; thru the back of the eyes, up thru the lip or down thru the head and always avoid the brain. Or if the minnow is just missing, I hook it opposite of what it was hooked.If the minnow is hooked in the back, behind the dorsal fin, it will try to swim up so I put the weight at 3-4" up from the eye of the hook.If it is hooked in the head, it will try to swim down so I put the weight close to the hook eye.Vary the distance from the weight to the hook eye.I love the slip corks as well...

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